Halley's Comet approaches — in small telescope range

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 3, Issue 21, 15 October 1985, Page 4

Halley's Comet approaches — in small telescope range

Halley's Comet continues to brighten and by the end of October should be within the reach of small telescopes. It is now moving westwards between Gemini and Taurus, and will probably become visible in binoculars about the second week of November. Present indications are that the comet is brightening a little more rapidly than expected. At its best, it should be quite large. The head will probably be about half the diameter of the moon, and the tail about

two handwidths long when the hands are at arm's length (20-30 degrees). The best views will be from dark country locations, like the Waimarino, on moonless nights with a pair of good wide-angle binoculars, like the popular . 7 x 50s. Watch the night sky in October for the Aquarid meteor shower. This shower, with its effect of shooting stars, is debris from Halley's Comet and a considerable increase in activity is possible as the comet approaches. The comet accelerates towards the sun on its inbound journey to the inner Solar System. It will appear as a small circular fuzzy spot, like a faint globular cluster. It may just reach naked-eye visibility during December in the pre-dawn sky, but is not expected to be an easy object for naked-eye observers before the end of February when it moves out from behind the sun after Perihelion (its point of nearest approach). Bernie Vella